Stroll: JAPAN 2016! (Absurd Adventure Part Finale)

Just Got Back From Japan

Trip Duration: 1 week

Where You Stayed: Kita ke Jepang stayed di 3 kota: Osaka, Kyoto, dan Tokyo. Malam pertama, begitu kita turun dari pesawat, kita nebeng di apartemen senior di daerah Tennoji. Malam berikutnya kita menginap di infamous J-hoppers Hostel yang dekat banget sama stasiun Fukushima. Di Kyoto kita bermalam di A-yado Hostel di daerah Gion. Dan di Tokyo kita menginap di airbnb apartment di dekat stasiun Shibuya.

Best Thing I Ate: Aku secara umum cocok sama olahan makanan Jepang. Beberapa makanan yang berkesan adalah salmon yang aku makan di Yoshinoya! Selain itu onigiri murah dari 7-eleven yang isinya Tuna Mayo. Ooh, dan halal ramen di Kyoto di restoran bernama Ayam-ya. Rasa ramennya mirip banget sama masakan Indonesia. (yaiyalah, satu restoran pun pakai bahasa indo juga).

Best Daytime Activity: We were so lucky karena hari pertama tiba di Osaka bertepatan dengan flea market bulanan yang digelar di pelataran Octagonal Building Minato-Machi River Place. Best buy aku adalah jaket preloved Uniqlo seharga 300 yen atau 30.000an rupiah saja. Selain itu di Osaka aku saranin menjelajah Stasiun Osaka. Stasiun yang punya 10 lantai dan punya resto-resto yang lebih mewah daripada resto di GI. Karena kemarin kita datang saat peralihan winter-spring, kita belum dapat Sakura. Tetapi masih ada Plum Blossom yang worth to see (and photographed!) di pelataran Osaka Castle.

Kyoto punya vibe yang lebih tradisional. Go to Yasaka Shrine, also known as Gion Shrine sebelum menuju Kiyomizu-dera. Jalan kaki ke Kiyomizu-dera akan melewati lima lantai Yasaka Pagoda dan distrik Higashiyama with its preserved historic street. Jangan lupa beli beberapa souvenir dan yang paling utama, matcha ice cream! Pada malam hari, saat itu kita sengaja melewati Pontocho, a traditional atmospheric narrow alley di bantaran sungai Kamogawa and hoped to see a glimpse of geisha (without realizing we were staying in the largest geisha area).

Kyoto best spot selanjutnya adalah Kinkakuji, a golden pavillion di Kyoto utara yang seluruh bangunan lantai 2 dan 3-nya dilapisi gold leaf. Kamu bisa beli ramalan out of vending machine, matcha, and sweets di area Kinkakuji.

Next spot is Arashiyama Bamboo Park. So famous, pertama kali lihat di salah satu episode WGM and I kind of promised to my self and hoped to go there (and God granted my wish). We accidentally met DJ Winky Wiryawan and  his wife, supermodel Kenes there.

Wajib juga mendatangi Fushimi Inari Shrine, shrine di Kyoto selatan, yang dijaga parallel rows of gates called Senbon Torii (thousand of torii gates), gerbang berwarna oranye yang muncul di film Memoirs of Geisha. For me, this particular place felt so romatinc so I really wanted to see the movie afterwards.

Tokyo feels more modern and energetic (of course!) Saking banyaknya tourism spot di Tokyo, saat itu kita mencar dan datangi tematik places sesuai dengan keinginan masing-masing. Untuk wota dan anime freak bisa ke Akihabara, mau belanja bisa ke Shibuya. Yang berkesan saat cari oleh-oleh sih, karena banyak banget tax-free stores di Tokyo.

Serbuan minions di Osaka Castle

Menunggu bis di depan Kyoto Tower/Kyoto Sta

Salju di Kinkakuji

Five stories Pagoda dalam perjalanan menuju ke Kiyomizu-dera

Someone's dizzy

Eating dead hot Takoyaki in dead cold weather

Senbon Torii dan nama-nama donaturnya tertulis di bagian belakang

Accidently met DJ Winky and Mbak Kenes

Trip Highlight: Melewati Shibuya crossing dan mengunjungi Hachiko. And I won’t forget saat nyaris ditinggal sendirian di hostel with a random Italian guy just because Mas Billy dan Hans mau nonton adult live show. OOOH, and we saw snow for the first time in Kyoto. Kita teriak-teriak norak kayak indon (emang indon).

And I couldn’t write this Japan trip experience without mentioning my meet up with Tissa, highscool deskmate/absurd mate. She works in Kobe and had to go to Osaka for our meet up. We ended up strolling Shinsaibashi the 600 meters length shopping center and enjoying the almost naked Glico Man together.

This precious grainy photo

Could not Leave Home Without... Jackets and sweaters. Dan masker dan sarung tangan dan kaos kaki. Bawa sebanyak yang kamu mampu. Also, all kind of moisturizers. Lips, body, face. Mostly disebabkan cuaca yang masih sangat dingin saat kita di sana (we through -2 C).  Oh, dan tolak angin dan all purpose hot cream. Pokoknya, rumusnya adalah body lotion on day time dan hot cream on night time.  (sorry for the excessive cold weather prep, we’re tropical babes so....)

I wish I had gotten a chance to experience... The Tsukiji Fish Market. And Ghibli museum in Mitaka, hanya 15 menit dari Shinjuku Sta! Damn, aku baru tau Ghibli punya museum a few days after I left Japan. Sebagai penggemar Ghibli dan Spirited Away aku merasa gagal.

Why Japan?  I made a full post explaining why we came to this beautiful country. We didn’t regret it and looking forward to go again sometime in next few years. Only so we can reminscing we’ve been here and there. J

Pics by Me and Mas Billy and Hans and Mba Veny (gak yakin siapa motret yang mana)

This post is made with questions from Harper Bazaar Article.

http://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/travel-dining/a14543/just-back-from-merida/